Akshay Kumar does stunts himself; but ensures stuntmen are paid deserving amount?
8:17 AM
Upala KBR (DNA; April 16, 2014)
Everybody in Bollywood knows that Akshay Kumar loves performing his own stunts, no matter how risky, dangerous or challenging they are. What few people know is that though he does the stunts himself, Akshay makes sure that the stunt doubles are not denied their payments. The stunt artists are not only paid per day but also according to their stunts — so the more difficult the action, the more they get paid despite the actor doing all the risky moves himself.
Says a source close to the star, “Akshay has always loved doing all his stunts. In fact, that’s the reason he joined the film industry. More than becoming an actor he wanted to perform daredevil stunts on his own. Even now, Akshay maintains that he’s a stuntsman first and then an actor. But when he discovered that by doing his own stunts, his stunt doubles were deprived of their earnings, Akshay decided to take a stand. He tells all his producers to pay the stuntsmen exactly the remuneration that they would have got had they done the stunts.”
A lesser-known fact is that the remuneration for stunts differ from scene to scene. According to the source, “The more challenging the scene, the more the payment. For example, breaking through a glass pane earns a stuntsman anything between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. Even these glass-breaking stunts Akshay does himself. But he makes sure that the producer pays the amount for these actions to the stuntman. This way he makes sure that everyone is happy and nobody can accuse him of depriving someone’s earnings. He has a kind heart, and he is also a family man so he knows under what tough conditions these stuntsmen survive and eke out a living.”
Everybody in Bollywood knows that Akshay Kumar loves performing his own stunts, no matter how risky, dangerous or challenging they are. What few people know is that though he does the stunts himself, Akshay makes sure that the stunt doubles are not denied their payments. The stunt artists are not only paid per day but also according to their stunts — so the more difficult the action, the more they get paid despite the actor doing all the risky moves himself.
Says a source close to the star, “Akshay has always loved doing all his stunts. In fact, that’s the reason he joined the film industry. More than becoming an actor he wanted to perform daredevil stunts on his own. Even now, Akshay maintains that he’s a stuntsman first and then an actor. But when he discovered that by doing his own stunts, his stunt doubles were deprived of their earnings, Akshay decided to take a stand. He tells all his producers to pay the stuntsmen exactly the remuneration that they would have got had they done the stunts.”
A lesser-known fact is that the remuneration for stunts differ from scene to scene. According to the source, “The more challenging the scene, the more the payment. For example, breaking through a glass pane earns a stuntsman anything between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. Even these glass-breaking stunts Akshay does himself. But he makes sure that the producer pays the amount for these actions to the stuntman. This way he makes sure that everyone is happy and nobody can accuse him of depriving someone’s earnings. He has a kind heart, and he is also a family man so he knows under what tough conditions these stuntsmen survive and eke out a living.”
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